What would the Nissan Juke look like if it was built in the future and ran on electricity? Thankfully, the Japanese are all about advanced technologies, so they answered that question with a concept called the TeRRA.
Unveiled at the Paris Motor Show, we have to say that it’s quite an interesting design study, looking like a cross between the Juke and the Leaf EVand powered by a fuel cell. Each of the car’s back wheels is powered by its own electric motor and there’s another one at the front, powered by a revolutionary compact hydrogen fuel cell stack that is placed under the bonnet, which Nissan says costs one sixth what such a system used to.
“In less than a generation’s time there will be millions of zero-emission vehicles on the road and we will be the leaders when that happens,” says Nissan executive vice president Andy Palmer.
The concept features four doors in total, the two at the back being “suicide” ones because the designers wanted no door pillars. Inside, the dash has been replaced with a detachable table and the seats are staggered in a diagonal position from one anther.
Most of the trim is made from veneer, packed together like some sort of Ikea furniture. It’s very relaxing to look at but no very pleasant in an accident.
Still, this concept is just a design study and isn’t going anywhere, but Nissan says the drivetrain is ready right now, and it will put it into production once hydrogen is available globally.
“You have the big tires, high belt-line, thick pillars and thin side windows of the SUV vocabulary. But with a slender waist between pronounced fenders above the wheel arches and a sculptured hood, we’ve created an ‘Implied Structure’ of musculature under the skin,” explains Shiro Nakamura, Nissan’s senior vice president and chief of design.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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